Wake Up Everybody – English Lyrics

• By: John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona, Common

Lyrics & Translation

Explore the socially conscious anthem “Wake Up Everybody” by John Legend and The Roots featuring Melanie Fiona and Common. This song serves as a powerful call to action, encouraging listeners to fight for social justice and equality. Discover how this collaboration blends R&B, soul, and hip hop to inspire change and unity.

[English]

(birds chirping)

♪ Good morning ♪

- Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, ya'll.

This is Black Torch, your boss DJ from around the way,

and you are listening to WAKE radio,

spreading tunes across your rooms.

From Marvin Gaye to Hathaway,

from Nina Simone to Pendergrass,

we pay tribute to the legends of the past,

and introduce the legends of the future.

Special big up to my man Johnny Stevens,

who shares his passion with us every day.

Wake up, New York.

(gentle music)

♪ Wake up, everybody, no more sleeping in bed ♪

♪ No more backward thinking, time for thinking ahead ♪

♪ The world has changed so very much ♪

♪ From what it used to be ♪

♪ And there is so much hatred, war, and poverty ♪

♪ Oh, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Wake up all the teachers, time to teach a new way ♪

♪ Maybe then they'll listen to what you have to say ♪

♪ 'Cause they're the ones who's coming up ♪

♪ And the world is in their hands ♪

♪ When you teach the children ♪

♪ Teach them the very best you can ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ The world won't get no better ♪

♪ If we just let it be ♪

♪ Oh, no ♪

♪ The world won't get no better ♪

♪ We gotta change it, yeah ♪

♪ Just you and me ♪

♪ Wake up all the doctors, make the old people well ♪

♪ They're the ones who suffer, and who catch all the hell ♪

♪ And who catch all the hell ♪

♪ They don't have so very long before their judgment day ♪

♪ So won't you make them happy before they pass away ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ Wake up all the builders, time to build a new land ♪

♪ I know we can do it if we all lend a hand ♪

♪ The only thing we have to do ♪

♪ Is put it in our minds ♪

♪ Surely things will work out 'cause they do every time ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ The world won't get no better ♪

♪ If we just let it be ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ The world won't get no better ♪

♪ We gotta change it, yeah ♪

♪ Just you and me ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ It's the God hour, the morning, I wake up ♪

♪ Just for the breath of life, I thank my maker ♪

♪ My mom say I come from hustlers and shakers ♪

♪ My mom build it on skyscrapers and acres ♪

♪ He said take us back to where we belong ♪

♪ I try to write a song as sweet as the Psalms ♪

♪ Though I'm the type to bare arms ♪

♪ And wear my heart on my sleeve ♪

♪ Even when I fell in God I believe ♪

♪ Read the days that weave through the maze ♪

♪ And the seasons so amazing ♪

♪ Feed them and raise them ♪

♪ Seasons are aging ♪

♪ Earthquakes, wars, and rumors ♪

♪ I want us to get by but we more than consumers ♪

♪ We more than shooters, more than looters ♪

♪ Created in his image, so God live through us ♪

♪ And even in this generation living through computers ♪

♪ Only love, love, love can reboot us, come on ♪

♪ Oh, wake up, everybody, no more sleeping in bed ♪

♪ Oh, wake up, everybody, yeah ♪

♪ We're gonna need a little help ♪

♪ Can't do it alone ♪

♪ Oh, need a little help, y'all ♪

♪ Come on, come on, come on, come on ♪

♪ I need a little help, y'all ♪

♪ Can't do it alone ♪

♪ Oh, I need a little help, y'all ♪

♪ Can't do it alone ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Wake up, everybody ♪

♪ Wake up, everybody ♪

♪ Wake up, everybody ♪

(traffic honking)

(siren wailing)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
wake /weɪk/ A2	verb - to stop sleeping; to awaken.
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries, peoples, and natural features.
change /tʃeɪndʒ/ A1	verb - to make or become different. noun - the act or result of changing.
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.
hatred /ˈheɪtrɪd/ B1	noun - intense dislike or ill will.
poverty /ˈpɑːvərti/ B1	noun - the state of being extremely poor.
suffer /ˈsʌfər/ B1	verb - to experience or be subjected to (something bad or unpleasant).
happy /ˈhæpi/ A1	adjective - feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.
build /bɪld/ A2	verb - to construct (something) by putting parts or materials together.
land /lænd/ A1	noun - the part of the earth's surface that is not covered by water, as opposed to the sea or the air.
hand /hænd/ A1	noun - the end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist, including the fingers and thumb.
breath /breθ/ B1	noun - the air taken into or expelled from the lungs.
maker /ˈmeɪkər/ B1	noun - a person or thing that makes or produces something. (In a spiritual context, often refers to God).
maze /meɪz/ B2	noun - a network of paths and hedges designed as a puzzle through which one has to find a way; a complex or confusing situation.
amazing /əˈmeɪzɪŋ/ A2	adjective - causing great wonder; astounding.
rumor /ˈruːmər/ B2	noun - a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth.
consumer /kənˈsuːmər/ B2	noun - a person who purchases goods and services for personal use.
reboot /ˈriːbuːt/ B2	verb - to restart a computer system. (Figuratively: to start anew, to revitalize). noun - an act or instance of restarting a computer system.

Key Grammar Structures

• Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, ya'll.

  ➔ Imperative Mood

  ➔ The repeated 'wake up' is in the imperative mood, used to give a direct command or instruction.

• No more backward thinking, time for thinking ahead.

  ➔ Present Continuous for Future Plans

  ➔ 'Time for thinking ahead' uses the present continuous to express a future plan or intention.

• The world has changed so very much from what it used to be.

  ➔ Present Perfect for Change Over Time

  ➔ 'Has changed' is in the present perfect, indicating a change that occurred in the past and has results in the present.

• Maybe then they'll listen to what you have to say.

  ➔ Future with 'will' for Speculation

  ➔ 'They'll listen' uses 'will' to express a speculation or prediction about the future.

• The world won't get no better if we just let it be.

  ➔ Double Negative for Emphasis

  ➔ 'Won't get no better' uses a double negative for emphasis, though it's non-standard in formal English.

• I know we can do it if we all lend a hand.

  ➔ Conditional Sentence Type 1

  ➔ 'If we all lend a hand' is a Type 1 conditional sentence, used for likely or realistic conditions and results.

• The only thing we have to do is put it in our minds.

  ➔ Emphatic Structure with 'The Only Thing'

  ➔ 'The only thing we have to do' is an emphatic structure highlighting the sole action required.

• We're gonna need a little help, can't do it alone.

  ➔ Going to Future for Prediction

  ➔ 'We're gonna need' uses 'going to' to express a prediction or future intention based on present evidence.